


My Fallen Angel

by OrangeJuiceLesbian



Series: Hawaiian Shirts And Bad Excuses [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, M/M, Martin has had enough of Jon's behaviour, Mentioned Martin Blackwood's Mother, Oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29146320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeJuiceLesbian/pseuds/OrangeJuiceLesbian
Summary: Martin has finally had enough of Jon's being a dick towards him, and snaps back. Jon (who was actually trying to be nice at the time) has to find a way to win Martin back - note: they are fully aware that one 'sorry' will not fix everything.Prequel to '800mg Of Ibuprofen For Breakfast' by a few years (moved about the series placements), but can be read independently.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Hawaiian Shirts And Bad Excuses [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132460
Comments: 2
Kudos: 100





	My Fallen Angel

**Author's Note:**

> I needed Jon apologising to Martin, and them working on it. So here is my attempt.

> _‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind’ - William Shakespeare_

Most days went like this.

Everyone would arrive in the Archives at different time - Jon had probably slept there, Sasha was 10 minutes early, Martin was on time, and Tim was 15 minutes late (today, because he’d bought breakfast for everyone, and by everyone, that meant himself, Sasha, and Martin) - deliver whatever follow-up work was needed, and then start on whatever the next follow-up work was.

The knock-on Jon’s door meant that it was Martin, who walked in, paperwork in one hand, a cup of tea in the other. “Morning Jon, how was your evening?” He didn’t seem as bright today. There was a smile, but with some annoyance to it, as it didn’t reach his eyes like it usually did. And Jon would know.

“It was fine. I went over some of your follow-ups, and there was just-” Jon had started, genuinely intending to politely help Martin with some mistakes before he was cut off mid-sentence.

“Oh for- just stop,” Martin’s faux-smile had fallen, his fists were clenched by his sides, and his tone, “You know what? It really doesn’t matter; I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy your tea.”

The last words were full of venom, that bit at Jon as the door was slammed shut.

From the main room (because what else are we going to call it?), all Tim had seen was Martin take a cup of tea and a file into Jon office, then storm out less than a minute later - all rather uncharacteristically. Then again, today was Tuesday. Which meant that Martin had visited his mother yesterday. Shit. Why did Sasha have to visit the library now?

His thoughts were interrupted by a door opening, very slowly, and a short Archivist surveying the room, eyeing Martin, who was pointedly typing something with anger behind it and biting the inside of his mouth.

“Er… Tim? Could I just talk to you for a second?” Jon asked, from the doorway to his office. The first thing that struck Tim wasn’t that Jon was willingly talking to him. It was that there was no confidence in his voice, like there usually was, it was quiet and nervous.

Once inside Jon's office, Tim warily took a seat, choosing not to slouch like he normally would. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Is- er- is Martin alright? He just seems short-tempered today."

Tim barked a laugh, _fucking finally_. The number of times Tim had told Martin to give up crushing on someone who treated him so badly was ridiculous, but he'd finally done it. "He did it. That crazy son of a bitch, he did it," he grinned at the table. Jon's confused expression was almost that of a dog when they don't understand what's being said in a different language, and they tilt their head to one side. "I could tell you, but I want to see you figure it out for yourself."

"I don't- what? Tim, what's wrong with Martin?"

Now, Tim had promised Martin that he wouldn't tell Jon - or let him know in any way - about his crush on the Archivist, but Tim had to at least hint at it. If incredibly cryptically. Then again, Jon's obliviousness did mean Martin could confess his undying love, and there would still be a chance Jon didn't realise Martin felt the same way. Oh yes, Tim knew all about this not-so-unrequited love - he'd even tried telling Martin, who thought the other assistant was just being a dick - from watching any interaction the two of them had.

Tim sighed. "I'm going to take a wild guess that you don't know you're doing it, but Jon, you can be rather harsh on Martin. Most of the time. I don't- hm. Martin is the kindest person I have ever met, and I think he finally realised that no matter how many cups of tea he brings, no matter how nice he is to you, you will never change."

Jon knew Tim was right. Of course, he did.

“I am trying to be better,” Jon somehow made himself even smaller in his chair, “I didn’t scold him earlier, I was really trying to help. Oh god.” He dropped his head into his hands. How was it that he managed to drive away those who meant so much to him? It had taken _years_ for Georgie to talk to him again, and Jon wasn’t entirely sure Tim and Sasha liked him either.

“It doesn’t really help that you chose to do this on a Tuesday.” Jon looked up in confusion. “Martin visits his mum on Monday evenings. You do know that, right?” Tim explained, audibly concerned at the last part. The look on Jon’s face said it all. “How?! Martin is always rough on Tuesdays. I mean, I’ve never seen him angry, but me and Sasha always help- how did you miss this?”

“I just… he always seemed alright. Wait, what’s wrong with his mother? Tim, what does she do to Martin?” Jon started thinking back, and how Martin had never mentioned any relatives to him. Martin always, _always_ , greeted Jon with a smile, no matter how much of a bad mood Jon was in - he should have recognised the pain his assistant was in, especially one who Jon had such feelings for.

Tim went quiet for a moment, looking at his shoes when he spoke again, “She, er, she does not like him. Martin thinks she just has bad days, but she doesn’t. From what I have heard from drunk Martin, she doesn’t think he’s good enough, or that he has a good job, is a good son. Hell, I’m glad she’s at least in a home now - you won’t have noticed, obviously, but Martin would never roll his jumper sleeves up before, no matter how hot it was. I once saw all of the bruises and whatever other injuries were there. I’ve read so many statements, and never once have I found something evil enough to be compared to that woman.”

He thought he was going to be sick. How does anyone miss something like that? Jon should have thought about how Martin never mentioned his relatives, or at least had the decency to ask in small talk. What if he’d gone along to all of those drink nights Tim and Sasha invited him to? Oh god he’d really fucked this right up.

“Tim, what have I done?” Jon whispered, “He had all of that on his plate, and all I ever did was bitch about him to tape recorders, and then ridicule his work ethic.”

Tim shifted in his seat, finally meeting Jon’s eyes. “I think, I think you could fix it. If that’s of any use?”

“What?”

Jon, in his own opinion, could not fix this. The damage had been done, and Martin would never- could never - reciprocate his feelings, not after Jon’s behaviour since the moment they met. Maybe Tim was just being a dick.

“I think you might be able to pull this one back, boss. It’s going to take a lot of work, and a lot of apologising, though. You can’t just suddenly go from snapping at every movement to being decent, and not expect Martin to do something. Not after his mother. That boy is very precious, Jon. He loves and forgives too easily, but Martin is finally standing up for himself. Which is wonderful, but it might make this a little harder.”

Jon nodded, eyes wide, listening to every word Tim said. He had to at the very least try and apologise for his actions. “Do you have any ideas of where I could start?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to figure that out by yourself. But maybe come for drinks on Friday? Oh! Why don’t you send me and Sash on a field trip tomorrow? Then you’ve got the whole day to talk to Martin,” Tim suggested. That wasn’t a half bad idea. Tim got up to leave, but turned around, in a serious tone and looked the Archivist in the eye, “Oh, and Jon? Do not hurt him.” Jon nodded, and watched as Tim put on a smile, and left.

Martin noted that Tim had been in Jon’s office for quite some time now. Not that it mattered, or anything. _He’s probably praising Tim over his work._ Even Martin knew he was exaggerating, as the closest anyone had come to praise was when Sasha ‘fixed’ Jon’s computer - and by ‘fixed’, that meant she switched caps lock off. To this day, Jon didn’t know it was a single button because she made a show out of it to make Tim laugh.

Speak (well, think) of the devil, Sasha had just returned with several large volumes from the library, mentioned that she was translating something from a statement. Martin didn’t care, not today. After last night’s visit to see mum, Martin simply did not have the energy to deal with Jon; normally, he would hide it, pretending like everything was fine, even when Tim and Sasha tried to get him to say something about it. They were always so good to him. But Jon… he was not. And Martin knew he couldn’t help having a crush on his boss, but it would be helpful if the people he was attracted to weren’t arseholes who never thanked him for the cups of tea. Maybe he could just get transferred back to the library-

“Alright boss, have fun,” Tim came out of Jon’s office, smiling, “Sasha, you’re back!”

“Am I? Someone should have told me,” she laughed, taking a sip of her tea.

The rest of the day was spent doing work, Martin watching as Tim obviously wanted to talk to Sasha about something without him there, and Tim gathering up blank A3 paper, several highlighters, and a selection of felt tip pens, before taking them through to Jon. The grin on his face was real this time, “Hey, I thought you could you these?” could be heard from where Martin was sat. What was strange, however, was that Tim returned without the stationery and it stayed in Jon’s office, with him. Huh.

At lunch, Tim and Sasha decided they were taking Martin out, whether he liked it or not (“Come on, we know you don’t want to be in here longer than you have to.”). But when they returned, Martin noticed a post-it-note on his desk, ‘Sorry x’ (Jon had spent a good twenty minutes debating on the ‘x’, but just thought, _fuck it, I can’t screw this up more_ ) - the other two either hadn’t seen it, or ignored it. As touching as it was, it didn’t make everything right. Not for all the tears he’d shed over being shouted at. Martin put it in a draw, keeping his attitude towards the situation as it was before.

Martin was just pleased with himself getting out of work on time, and not hanging back to see if Jon needed any help. He was going to fight off this silly crush, because even though he could never admit that his mother treated him badly, Martin wasn’t going to let Jon take him for granted. Martin hastily grabbed his bag, and any paperwork needed, and promptly left for the tube before any of his colleagues could suggest drinks. He didn’t see Jon watching from a crack in the door either.

Right.

* * *

The next morning, Jon had made a very conscious decision to not stay cooped up in his office when his assistants got in. He had to.

Tim must have told Sasha about the plan because both had already been in the Archives ten minutes and were yet to take their coats off (Martin had also noticed this, as he arrived moments after them). Jon could see that Martin was setting up his desk, from where he was. _Maybe yesterday was just a fluke, and that Martin would be back to normal today,_ Jon considered. Or he did until Martin made tea for everyone except the Archivist. That was somehow unsurprising, but still felt like a knife to his heart - Jon had to remember that he'd made Martin feel worse, so it was fair, really.

Jon put on the usual façade of confidence, but consciously made sure whatever he was going to say would be… less harsh than usual, “Ah, good morning. Er, let’s see,” Jon spoke, flicking through the files in his arms, “Tim and Sasha, I need you two to follow up on the statement of Alice Crowther, regarding the strange behaviour of her girlfriend, I’ve written the address down,” he passed the file over, knowing that it was close enough that it shouldn’t take all day, _but it would_. “And… Martin, I have the statement of Florence Radclyffe, regarding… erm, spiders. There,” he gingerly handed it over, Martin chose not to look up.

There was a very awkward silence for a number of moments, as the tension between them only grew. At least Sasha had the decency to announce, “Okay, we’ll get going then. See you two later!” she grabbed Tim’s arm, dragging him along with her.

Jon was beginning to regret this plan. A lot. He thought back to the mind map he’d made yesterday, sat on his desk, made up of all the stationery Tim had brought - though Jon would never show it to the assistant. Martin still wasn’t looking at him. Better get this over with.

“So, er, Martin. I need to talk to you,” Jon said, fiddling with his sleeves.

“Which follow-up?” there was no emotion.

“None. It’s sort of about yesterday. I just wanted to apologise properly.”

Curiosity got the better of him, as did the beating of his heart that Martin was working on getting rid of. Martin put the file down, and turned to Jon, “What? Just for yesterday, or for each time you snapped at me? Or for the patronising way you point out every mistake I have ever made?”

“I- I’m sorry for all of it. And before you say anything, I know that this one apology doesn’t excuse any of my behaviour, I doubt it ever will. But I am working on it. I don’t want to be hurting you, I never did…” Jon said just loud enough for Martin to hear.

“It did hurt,” Martin replied, “But thanks. For saying that.”

Martin was well aware that this was not his plan, but his traitorous heart just made him soft. _It was just an apology, dammit_.

“I’m going to make this better,” Jon said with such certainty that the corner of Martin’s lips twitched, “I- heh- I made a plan and everything. I don’t want you to forgive me out of pity or anything, you were standing up for yourself, and that’s really good. Especially after… everything with your mother. You don’t deserve that, not from me as well.”

When Jon looked up from the carpet, Martin’s eyes caught his attention. They were so very blue, now slightly watery, but oh so very beautiful.

“Jon,” Martin whispered, then coughed and brought the volume up, “I’m going to tell you something, because I don’t think you’re going to want to be better after this. And honestly? I might be better for it.”

Jon stood there, frozen with the fear of what may come next: maybe Martin was leaving the archives? He swallowed, nodding.

“I really liked you. Like you. Still do. Have done since the moment we met, and I don’t want to have feelings for someone who treats me like a doormat. I’ve been thinking about asking Elias for a transfer, back to the library, you won’t have to see me then.”

“What? No!”

Jon hadn’t meant to do that, not quite so loudly, anyway. Martin was on the verge of tears, making himself somehow smaller, and Jon couldn’t be sure that didn’t just make it worse. “Please don’t go. I know I’m truly awful at showing it, but I like you too. I mean, if I’m making it worse, you can if you really want to. But don’t do it for my sake,” Jon pleaded, as he couldn’t get the words out quick enough.

“You what?” the slightest sliver of hope creeped into Martin’s head.

“I have feelings for you too! I’m so sorry I get defensive, and it wasn’t right, treating you like that - I have no excuse. But do you think I could at least try and partially make it up to you?” Jon rambled.

Martin laughed very slightly, “You will have to work on it. You can't keep talking to me like you did. But yeah. And I won't leave the archives. Maybe- heh- maybe we could make this work?”

Jon smiled like he hadn’t in some time. He was going to make it up to Martin. Then something else occurred to him, "Oh god. Martin, wait. This just- I have become very aware that this sounds like the start of an abusive relationship. I need you to know I would never, ever do that. And if I do, you need to say something. Even if it's to someone else, okay? It's really important that you don't get hurt."

He nodded in return. He knew what Jon meant, he'd seen it happen in a previous job: that poor girl and her 'boyfriend', who would run back apologising for every black eye. Martin would not let that happen to himself. He didn't believe Jon could do that, either.

It was moments like these that Martin really wished he could hold off more. He knew he needed to make sure Jon knew this didn't automatically make everything okay, but Martin's heart wanted something too. He was getting there, and that was what was important.

“Can I-”

“Yeah.”

Jon didn’t know what Martin was going to say, but he didn’t care when Martin stood up and enveloped the smaller man in a hug. Jon also didn’t care when he realised that he was crying into Martin’s jumper as he whispered, “I’m sorry,” repeatedly. But he did care when he felt the very gentle pressure of Martin’s lips on his forehead. He cared because he felt like he was taking advantage, but Jon was determined to not let that happen. Not to Martin.

"I know."

Their first date was at the café around the corner from the Institute, approximately ten minutes after that conversation. All things considering, it went very well.

Martin did forgive Jon, and told him many, many times later on. But it didn’t stop Jon apologising for everything, as he desperately made sure Martin knew he was deeply loved every single day.

Even when Martin found Jon’s hiding spot on April Fools’ Day and had him retrieved.

Even when Martin outed Jon’s alter-ego as a space pirate.

Especially when he proposed.

They were going to be okay. And that was/is a promise.

**Author's Note:**

> It hurt. But it's all okay and they are very much in love for the next fics in the series if you need it x


End file.
